TEHRAN — Iranian security forces arrested an Israeli-backed “terrorist team” days before crucial nuclear talks with world powers, the Intelligence Ministry announced Tuesday.

The announcement, reported by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), said that “terrorists, backed by the Zionists,” were arrested following months of intelligence operations in central and border provinces and that the “Zionist regional headquarters” was discovered in a regional country. In Iran’s ideological vocabulary, Israel is called the “Zionist state.”

While the report did not name the regional country, Iranian media in recent months have quoted several officials as accusing neighboring Azerbaijan of providing shelter for operatives plotting attacks inside Iran.

The Intelligence Ministry said security forces identified and arrested all of the team’s members. It said they “had planned to carry out terrorist operations inside the country, but they were arrested before implementing their plan,” IRNA reported.